Friday, June 03, 2016

Why A Little Nastiness In A Cat Is A Good Thing

Our previous Maximum Leader, Katie, could be a mean, grumpy cat. When she got high on catnip, she was an angry drunk and you wanted to be far away. Having said that, for those she loved, which included the whole family, even the dogs, she was very sweet.

Her relationship with the dogs wasn't always friendly. When she first met them, they were cheerfully curious and wanted to sniff her. She immediately dialed the aggression up to 11 and ripped their noses to shreds when they came over to see her. In about 15 seconds, she set the tone for the rest of their relationship. They didn't bother her at all after that and she started to relax. After a time, they became friends, but she was always in control of the situation and they knew it.

Our new Maximum Leader, Maddi, is sweetness personified. All she wants to do is purr, head bump, roll around, get her tummy rubbed and have adventures in the yard. She almost never uses her claws. Because of that, her Catican Guards, particularly the little ones, are learning Cat Protocol very slowly. In fact, I'm having to be her claws by punishing them for getting too close and bugging her too much. We're getting there, but it's taking a lot longer than it would if Maddi had a little more cattitude.

I have a rescue cat. She clearly house a human before me. I found her, knocked up. We're couldn't catch her before she had her kittens and by the time we caught her, only one was left. My landlord adopted the kitten. I want going to keep the mama, but: A) We never found her owner, and; B) She kind of grew on me. She keeps the 70lb dog in their place, she lies on top of me at night, and she will walk up to the dogs' bowl while they are eating or drinking and eat or drink out of their bowl. She's my first cat who gets high on catnip -- I find that entertaining. She's an interesting cat.

I often wonder about her life before. I guess her time on the streets, pregnant and alone, wound up not traumatizing her too much. She's very social and very vocal.